Of the many famous quotes describing Sir Bobby Charlton the one I like the most is undoubtedly from Geoffrey Green: "He always possessed an elemental quality; jinking, changing feet and direction, turning gracefully on the ball or accelerating through a gap surrendered by a confused enemy."
Just ahead of Arthur Hopcraft's The Football Man in which he met Sir Bobby Charlton's sports master Mr McGuiness who had this to say: "Thin lad of 9 playing football with 14 year old's & just waltzing through them. Even at 9 he had a body swerve & a natural check that would take other man the wrong way."
Apart from that much talked about semi-final win over Portugal in the 1966 World Cup, his 68 goals in 3 seasons immediately after Munich on his less favoured left-wing speak volumes of his dedication for Manchester United Football Club. Sir Matt Busby summarized it as "When things looked their blackest after the Munich accident, and there were times when I felt great despair, I was enormously cheered to think that Bobby Charlton was there. His presence was a great source of inspiration to keep working for the restoration of Manchester United."
The official MUFC dedication last year with a poetry was top class.
Just ahead of Arthur Hopcraft's The Football Man in which he met Sir Bobby Charlton's sports master Mr McGuiness who had this to say: "Thin lad of 9 playing football with 14 year old's & just waltzing through them. Even at 9 he had a body swerve & a natural check that would take other man the wrong way."
Apart from that much talked about semi-final win over Portugal in the 1966 World Cup, his 68 goals in 3 seasons immediately after Munich on his less favoured left-wing speak volumes of his dedication for Manchester United Football Club. Sir Matt Busby summarized it as "When things looked their blackest after the Munich accident, and there were times when I felt great despair, I was enormously cheered to think that Bobby Charlton was there. His presence was a great source of inspiration to keep working for the restoration of Manchester United."
The official MUFC dedication last year with a poetry was top class.
Other notable quotes about Sir Bobby Charlton:"This boy came down from Ashington in 1953, no-one could imagine what a talent he could be..."— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 11, 2018
A stirring poem about @SirBobby's incredible career, on his 81st birthday. 🔴 pic.twitter.com/edo0kI2Dk3
"Dispossessing Kostic about forty yards from goal, this gifted boy leaned brilliantly into his stride, made ground rapidly for about ten yards, and the beat the finest goalkeeper on the Continent with a shot of tremendous power and superb placing. There, one thought, surely goes England's Bloomer of the future."
Don Davies the 'Old International' of Manchester Guardian 5th Feb, 1958, Belgrade
"Bobby Charlton was still there, a cornerstone on which '62 side was to be built. Alongside me, Busby bought Cantwell, Setters, Herd. These were the new 'Busby Babes': Giles, Stiles, Chisnal, Nicholson, Lawton. Little did we know how good it was going to get over the next 5 years."
Sir Denis Law on his arrival from Torino
"I have nothing but respect for Bobby now, but we were totally different characters, and for a long time didn't get on. There was one similarity. Like me, he was his own man."
George Best
"England beat us in 1966 because Bobby Charlton was just a bit better than me."
Franz Beckenbauer
"He was a global star of his day. Go to any country in the world and even if they couldn't speak English, the two words they did know were: 'Bobby Charlton.'"
Sir Geoff Hurst
"Some say Bobby Charlton was a scorer of great goals, rather than a great goalscorer. Yet no player has scored more for England and no player has scored more for its greatest club , Manchester United. So his 49 goals for England and his 249 for United can’t all have been 25-yard thunderbolts – it just seems that way in the mind’s eye. When he hammered one into the top corner from long range it was as if he were a man possessed, desperate to separate the leather casing from the bladder. I made virtually all of my 57 England appearances alongside Bob and I can remember few greater competitors and few greater professionals. His fellow greats like Best and Moore did not lead blameless lives away from the game but Bob was dedicated to his craft.His sainted image made it difficult when you played against United though, because although I never heard him swear at a referee, Bob would moan at them constantly and they would be so in awe of the great man that they’d usually do as they were told. I can remember, more than once, yelling: “F***ing hell ref, why don’t you just give Bobby the whistle, you might as well!” But this is a man who survived the Munich air disaster in 1958, won the World Cup in 1966, the European Cup in 1968 and played a key role in the appointment of Alex Ferguson as Old Trafford manager in 1986. He’s history in the flesh is Bobby Charlton. He’s our greatest living football man."
Jimmy Greaves
Four-time FA Youth Cup winner, FA Cup winner, Thrice English League winner, 1966 World Cup winner, Ballon d'Or winner/European Footballer of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year, European Cup winner!!!
Easily the Greatest English sporting legend who conquered it all.
Franz Beckenbauer
"He was a global star of his day. Go to any country in the world and even if they couldn't speak English, the two words they did know were: 'Bobby Charlton.'"
Sir Geoff Hurst
"Some say Bobby Charlton was a scorer of great goals, rather than a great goalscorer. Yet no player has scored more for England and no player has scored more for its greatest club , Manchester United. So his 49 goals for England and his 249 for United can’t all have been 25-yard thunderbolts – it just seems that way in the mind’s eye. When he hammered one into the top corner from long range it was as if he were a man possessed, desperate to separate the leather casing from the bladder. I made virtually all of my 57 England appearances alongside Bob and I can remember few greater competitors and few greater professionals. His fellow greats like Best and Moore did not lead blameless lives away from the game but Bob was dedicated to his craft.His sainted image made it difficult when you played against United though, because although I never heard him swear at a referee, Bob would moan at them constantly and they would be so in awe of the great man that they’d usually do as they were told. I can remember, more than once, yelling: “F***ing hell ref, why don’t you just give Bobby the whistle, you might as well!” But this is a man who survived the Munich air disaster in 1958, won the World Cup in 1966, the European Cup in 1968 and played a key role in the appointment of Alex Ferguson as Old Trafford manager in 1986. He’s history in the flesh is Bobby Charlton. He’s our greatest living football man."
Jimmy Greaves
Four-time FA Youth Cup winner, FA Cup winner, Thrice English League winner, 1966 World Cup winner, Ballon d'Or winner/European Footballer of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year, European Cup winner!!!
Easily the Greatest English sporting legend who conquered it all.
